Greyhound bus driver leaves her passengers stranded 100 miles from St. Louis

In an act officials called unprecedented, a Memphis-based Greyhound driver abandoned her bus and passengers in southeast Missouri over the weekend, leaving them stranded about 100 miles from their St. Louis destination.

It was an act that may well end the Greyhound career of the 45-year-old driver, who has been with the company since 2004, Greyhound spokeswoman Maureen Richmond said Sunday night.

Although the female driver is due to meet with supervisors at 8a.m. today, she had not returned messages left by her bosses as of Sunday night.

"We have not made contact with her since she left the bus (Saturday) morning. We anticipate her having a conversation with the operations manager (today)," Richmond said. "She'll face significant disciplinary action."

The incident began after the driver -- Richmond wouldn't identify her -- and her 45 passengers left Memphis on Friday night, bound for St. Louis.

According to passengers, the driver ordered a passenger off the bus near Sikeston, Mo., because he was being unruly.

Richmond said the company has extensive training for its drivers about how to handle passengers and that it would be acceptable to put an unruly or threatening passenger off a bus.

The driver then pulled over in Cape Girardeau, saying she was leaving. She walked off the bus and waited outside for someone to pick her up.

Passengers called 911; when police arrived, they ordered the driver back on the bus.

She complied, but after driving to a gas station in nearby Charleston, she left again at about midnight.

"In my tenure with Greyhound, I have never heard of something happening like this," Richmond said. "... It's inexcusable and certainly unprecedented."

The bus passengers eventually arrived in St. Louis at about 11 a.m. Saturday, nearly 10 hours after their scheduled arrival time.

"I was shocked," passenger Ashley Ahart told a Missouri television station. "I felt like I was being punked. I was upset.

"I was scared because I didn't know if a new bus was going to come. They kept saying a new bus was going to come, but no buses came so we had to spend the night on the bus."

On Sunday, the company was still piecing together exactly what happened, Richmond said.

Richmond said a replacement driver didn't arrive in Charleston until about 8 a.m. Saturday, although she couldn't explain why it took so long.

Richmond said the driver should have notified dispatchers that she was leaving the bus. If she had done that, a new bus driver likely would have arrived within two hours, Richmond said.

"I think it's safe to say the protocol was not followed," Richmond said, adding that this is the first serious incident in the driver's personnel file.

She said the company is offering the passengers at least full refunds and "will work with them on a case-by-case basis."